Doaa Mohaisen is an Education Specialist at Education Above All Foundation. She designs and manages education programmes that reach some of the most marginalised children and youth in Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon, Ukraine, Nigeria and beyond. Her work spans programme design, curriculum development, and research on innovations in education, including in emergency and conflict settings. She is passionate about decolonising education and creating learning opportunities that are relevant, accessible, and rooted in dignity and justice.
Insights from Learn to Earn+ in Nigeria
By: Doaa Mohaisen
In May 2025, we visited Adamawa State in Nigeria to observe firsthand how the Learn to Earn+ (L2E+) project is supporting young people and their communities. Implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) with the support of the Education Above All Foundation, this initiative works in a context rife with insecurity, displacement, and economic hardship. In doing so, the project is an embodiment of what is possible when education efforts are designed to meet complex realities.
Meeting People Where They Are
Adamawa State is home to communities facing years of unsettled realities and disruption. Insecurity has forced families from their homes, reduced access to farmland, and weakened basic services. For many, formal schooling is no longer an option. Young people are often expected to work or help at home, and girls in particular face multiple barriers to education.
What stood out during our visit was how the Learn to Earn+ project builds its curriculum around what communities have identified as a need. Designed for adolescents who missed out on formal schooling, the Learn to Earn+ curriculum provides flexible, practical education that combines literacy, numeracy, and life skills with climate-smart agriculture, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and health education. This integrated approach reflects the understanding that learning must go hand in hand with the skills needed to build livelihoods and strengthen household resilience.
We met learners who shared how these opportunities have changed their daily lives. One young man told us how he learned to calculate profits and plan his farming better: “Before, I didn’t know how to track what I earned. Now I can farm smarter.” A girl spoke about the menstrual health sessions: “I didn’t know before how to clean the clothes I was using. I used to get infections. Now I make reusable pads, and I teach my friends.”
Practical Solutions for Tangible Impact
The project doesn’t stop at the classroom door. It supports and enhances the conditions that make learning possible. In communities where girls once spent hours fetching water, new boreholes now provide safe, nearby access to this basic resource. This has had a ripple effect on attendance and participation. As one learner put it: “Now we have water close by, I have time for school and my small business.”
Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) have opened up pathways to economic security, allowing families to save, access small loans, and invest in farming or trade. The groups are run by members, registered with government bodies, and have become important spaces for building resilience. We heard from a VSLA member who described the difference: “Before, it was hard to borrow money. Now, if I contribute, I can also take a loan to help my farm.”
What ties these efforts together is their undeniable relevance and applicability. Whether through innovating with climate-smart seeds, helping youth set up small businesses, or integrating health and hygiene into learning, the project reflects what communities say they need the most.
Lessons from the Field
Through this initiative, we have had valuable takeaways. The project is delivering undeniable impact with a special emphasis on improving lives, increasing livelihoods, and reinforcing education in the traditional and non-traditional sense.
- Integrated efforts are more effective. By addressing barriers to education — from water access to livelihoods — the project has been able to deliver an outcome that single-sector initiatives often struggle to achieve.
- Community engagement is essential. The success of Learn to Earn+ rests on the active involvement of local leaders, facilitators, and families. This ownership builds trust and helps sustain activities.
- Education must be flexible and practical. In fragile contexts, learning that links directly to everyday challenges — such as how to farm more effectively or run a small business — is more likely to engage young people and deliver lasting benefits.
The Learn to Earn+ project offers a compelling example of how education can serve as a foundation for broader community resilience. By connecting learning with livelihoods, health, and inclusion, it supports young people not just to catch up on schooling, but to contribute actively to their families and communities.
At the Education Above All Foundation, we remain committed to supporting initiatives that are grounded in the realities of the communities they serve — and that show how education, when designed thoughtfully, can be a powerful force for opportunity and stability.
